Cracked or torn finger or toe nails have long been problems which are difficult to repair quickly and with sufficient strength. Improved adhesives and filling materials have allowed most cracked nails to effectively repaired, however these methods and materials are cumbersome to use because their components are not easily handled. Powered fillers and sticky adhesives are sometimes required to be mixed prior to use and then applied to the cracked nail, handling powders is extremely difficult and mixing the components takes time, while the mixing time or technique may vary resulting in inconsistent final products. Another problem with prior devices and techniques is the difficulty of directly applying the mixed filler and/or adhesive to the crack or the area to be filled. Prior art which has addressed these problems and others include the following:
Juhl et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,837 which discloses a device which shields a portion of a finger nail to prevent nail polish from being applied to the shielded portion.
Rumore et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,935 discloses a method for repairing finger nails which comprises a plurality of pre-sized nail patches which are ready to fit a damaged nail which assist in repairing nail cracks while a wrap is applied over the patch.
Aylott, U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,595 discloses a nail repair device for repairing split or broken finger nails which comprises a support portion for fitting under a nail and a handle portion extending from the support portion, the device supports a nail while the nail is mended with adhesive or the like.
Ferrigno, U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,848 discloses an artificial finger nail forming method and kit which comprises artificial finger nail tips, adhesive for adhering the artificial tip to the natural portion of the finger nail, and a finger nail leveling component comprising a first coat of adhesive followed by adding powdered acrylic ester polymer and then followed by another coat of adhesive over the powered polymer.
Nordstom, U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,551 discloses a finger nail reconstruction kit comprising a pair of containers for containing chemical components which are used for finger nail construction. The containers provide an easier means for dispensing the chemicals without spilling, dripping and exposing the chemicals to the atmosphere.
Turner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,228,404 discloses method for protecting, repairing and lengthening the life of fingernails by applying a coat of synthetic plastic cement over the entire exposed surfaces of the fingernail and then followed by a coat of cellulosic liquid material and then finally followed by a liquid sealer.
These prior devices are very useful for the particular problems they address, however they do not provide an effective means of applying fingernail crack repair material directly to and within the crack on the fingernail as the present device. The present invention overcomes the problem of applying impermeable polymers over the entire surface of a fingernail in order to repair a single crack. The present invention accomplishes this by supplying a repair kit which includes an adhesive which is applied directly to the damaged area of the fingernail, polystyrene filler pellets which are used to be pressed into the adhesive filled crack thereby dissolving a portion of the polystyrene pellet in contact with the adhesive so that the polystyrene and adhesive mix and flow into the crack and quickly harden, the undissolved polystyrene pellet portion is then broken off, the filled area is filed or ground to be level with the natural nail surface and then coated as desired. The present invention does not use a powdered component for filling avoiding the mess associated with mixing or handling powders.